WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 11, 2007 ­ The anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA) is urging all concerned Italian Americans to protest NBC's plans for a new television series on the Mafia.

The project, Mafia Wives is about women who take over the "family business." The brainchild of BermanBraun and Universal Media Studios, it is written by Lynda LaPlante.

"The good news is that the project is still 'in development,' which means that the network has not yet invested a lot of money in it so it still can be dropped," says Anthony Baratta, national president of the Sons of Italy® Commission for Social Justice® (CSJ). "However, once actors are signed and a pilot is filmed, nothing will stop it. It's now or never," Baratta says.

To protest, write to two key NBC execs: Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC, and Vince Manze, president of NBC Program Planning. Graboff is a lawyer who is very protective of NBC's reputation. Manze is an Italian American.

The Sons of Italy® CSJ is the anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), the largest and oldest national organization for people of Italian descent in the U.S. To learn more about the CSJ, visit us on the Web at www.osia.org or contact us via e-mail at csj@osia.org.